EP1717995A2 - Wireless audio and video entertainment systems - Google Patents
Wireless audio and video entertainment systems Download PDFInfo
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- EP1717995A2 EP1717995A2 EP06005402A EP06005402A EP1717995A2 EP 1717995 A2 EP1717995 A2 EP 1717995A2 EP 06005402 A EP06005402 A EP 06005402A EP 06005402 A EP06005402 A EP 06005402A EP 1717995 A2 EP1717995 A2 EP 1717995A2
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- Prior art keywords
- top box
- set top
- audio
- communicates
- medium
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/426—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
- H04L12/2803—Home automation networks
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
- H04L12/2803—Home automation networks
- H04L12/2838—Distribution of signals within a home automation network, e.g. involving splitting/multiplexing signals to/from different paths
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
- H04N21/4104—Peripherals receiving signals from specially adapted client devices
- H04N21/4122—Peripherals receiving signals from specially adapted client devices additional display device, e.g. video projector
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
- H04N21/436—Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
- H04N21/4363—Adapting the video or multiplex stream to a specific local network, e.g. a IEEE 1394 or Bluetooth® network
- H04N21/43637—Adapting the video or multiplex stream to a specific local network, e.g. a IEEE 1394 or Bluetooth® network involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11]
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
- H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
- H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
- H04N21/439—Processing of audio elementary streams
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N5/00—Details of television systems
- H04N5/44—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
- H04N5/60—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards for the sound signals
- H04N5/602—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards for the sound signals for digital sound signals
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
- H04L12/2803—Home automation networks
- H04L12/283—Processing of data at an internetworking point of a home automation network
- H04L12/2834—Switching of information between an external network and a home network
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
- H04L12/2803—Home automation networks
- H04L2012/284—Home automation networks characterised by the type of medium used
- H04L2012/2841—Wireless
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L12/00—Data switching networks
- H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
- H04L12/2803—Home automation networks
- H04L2012/2847—Home automation networks characterised by the type of home appliance used
- H04L2012/2849—Audio/video appliances
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N5/00—Details of television systems
- H04N5/38—Transmitter circuitry for the transmission of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
Abstract
Description
- This application claims the benefit of
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/672,249, filed on April 18, 2005 - The present invention relates to entertainment systems, and more particularly to wireless audio for entertainment systems.
- Referring now to FIG. 1, an
entertainment system 10 includes a television ormonitor 12 such as a conventional television, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, a projector, and/or any other display system. A set-top box, cable box or other device 16 (collectively set top box 16) receives content from aservice provider 20 such as audio and/or video content. Theservice provider 20 may be a cable service, a satellite service, a wireless service, a conventional wireless broadcast and/or other suitable service provider. - The set
top box 16 outputs content to the TV ormonitor 12 that includes video and audio signals. The TV ormonitor 12 includesaudio outputs 24 that may be connected by connecting wires to anaudio system 28. Theaudio system 28, in turn, is typically connected to one ormore speakers 30. Theaudio output 24 includes one or more channels for mono, stereo, surround or other audio formats. For example, surround sound typically includes 5 or 7 channels. - Oftentimes, the consumer may purchase a particular television or monitor 12 for aesthetic reasons. For example, LCD and/or plasma displays have a relatively small thickness and can be mounted on a wall. Customers purchasing these types of devices prefer to have an uncluttered look. The entertainment system shown in FIG. 1, however, requires a significant amount of wiring to be used between devices such as the set
top box 16, the TV ormonitor 12, theaudio system 28 and/or thespeakers 30. While the wiring can be installed through drywall and hidden during construction of a home, the location of components of the entertainment system cannot change very much once installed. When customers add an entertainment system to an existing home, it is often times significantly more expensive to install wiring behind the drywall. Therefore, the wires are usually routed through the room, which is undesirable. - A set top box comprises a signal receiver that includes a front end that receives digital broadband signals and a tuner that tunes a channel including digital audio and video signals. A signal demodulator communicates with the signal receiver and demodulates the digital audio and video signals. A video processor communicates with the signal demodulator and encodes and transmits the digital video output signals via a first medium. A transmitter communicates with the signal demodulator and transmits digital audio output signals via a second wireless medium. The first medium has a higher bandwidth capacity and a different protocol than the second wireless medium.
- In other features, a system comprises the set top box and further comprises a display that communicates with the first medium and an audio system that includes a receiver that communicates with the second wireless medium. The display is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. A first wireless network interface communicates with the video output device. The first wireless network interface is compliant with at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n. The set top box is integrated with the display or located remotely from the display. The display further comprises a second wireless network interface that communicates with the first medium.
- In still other features, a system comprises the set top box and further comprises an audio system that includes a receiver module that communicates with the audio system and that receives the digital audio output signals via the second wireless medium. The audio system includes a plurality of transmitter modules and further comprises a plurality of speakers each including a receiver module that communicates with a respective one of the transmitter modules. The first bandwidth capacity is greater than 50 Mb/s and the second bandwidth capacity of the second wireless medium is less than 1 Mb/s.
- A system comprises a first transceiver that wirelessly receives content. A set top box communicates with the first transceiver, separates the content into audio signals and video signals and outputs the audio signals to the first transceiver and the video signals to a display. The first transceiver wirelessly transmits the audio signals to an audio system.
- In other features, a modem receives broadband signals including a plurality of channels and tunes a channel containing the content. A network device communicates with the modem. A second transceiver communicates with the network device and transmits the content to the first transceiver.
- In other features, a network device receives broadband signals including a plurality of channels and tunes a channel containing the content. A second transceiver communicates with the network device and transmits the content to the first transceiver. The display is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. The first transceiver wirelessly communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 n, 802.16, frequency modulation and ultrawideband (UWB) formats. The audio system includes a plurality of transmitters and further comprises a plurality of speakers each including a receiver that communicates with a respective one of the transmitters.
- In other features, the content is transmitted as packets from the second transceiver to the first transceiver. The audio signals and video signals are digital signals.
- A system comprises first transceiving means for wirelessly receiving content. Separating means communicates with the first transceiving means, separates the content into audio signals and video signals and outputs the audio signals to the first transceiving means and the video signals to display means for displaying. The first transceiving means wirelessly transmits the audio signals to audio means for generating audible audio signals.
- In other features, receiving and tuning means receives broadband signals including a plurality of channels and tunes a channel containing the content. Interface means communicates with the modem. Second transceiving means communicates with the interface means and transmits the content to the first transceiving means.
- In other features, interface means receives broadband signals including a plurality of channels and tunes a channel containing the content. Second transceiver communicates with the interface means and transmits the content to the first transceiving means.
- In other features, the display means is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. The first transceiving means wirelessly communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 n, 802.16, frequency modulation and ultrawideband (UWB) formats. The audio means includes a plurality of transmitting means for transmitting and further comprises a plurality of speakers each including receiving means for communicating with a respective one of the transmitting means.
- In other features, the content is transmitted as packets from the second transceiving means to the first transceiving means. The audio signals and video signals are digital signals.
- A method comprises wirelessly receiving content using a first transceiver; separating the content into audio signals and video signals; outputting the audio signals to the first transceiver and the video signals to a display; and wirelessly transmitting the audio signals to an audio system using the first transceiver.
- In other features, the method includes receiving broadband signals including a plurality of channels; and tuning a channel containing the content. The method includes selecting the display from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. The first transceiver wirelessly communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.16, frequency modulation and ultrawideband (UWB) formats. The method includes wirelessly transmitting the audio signals from the audio system to receivers associated with a plurality of speakers. The method includes transmitting the content as digital packets from the second transceiver to the first transceiver. The audio signals and video signals are digital signals.
- A set top box comprises a signal receiver that includes a front end that receives digital broadband signals and a tuner that tunes a channel including digital audio and video signals. A signal demodulator communicates with the signal receiver and demodulates the digital audio and video signals. A decoder outputs first data packets containing digital audio signals and second data packets containing digital video signals.
- In other features, a system comprises the set top box and further comprises an audio system and a first receiver that communicates with the audio system. A second receiver that communicates with a display. A transmitter receives the first and second data packets and wirelessly transmits the first data packets to the first receiver and transmits the second data packets to the second receiver. The transmitter wirelessly transmits the second data packets to the second receiver. The transmitter wirelessly transmits the first data packets to the second receiver. The display is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. The transmitter wirelessly communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.16, and ultrawideband (UWB) formats. The audio system includes a plurality of transmitter modules and further comprises a plurality of speakers each including a receiver module that communicates with a respective one of the transmitter modules.
- A set top box comprises signal receiving means for receiving digital broadband signals and tuning means for tuning a channel including digital audio and video signals. Signal demodulating means communicates with the signal receiving means and demodulates the digital audio and video signals. Decoder means outputs first data packets containing digital audio signals and second data packets containing digital video signals.
- In other features, a system comprises the set top box and further comprises audio output means for generating audio signals. First receiving means communicates with the audio output means. Display means displays video signals. Second receiving means communicates with the display means. Transmitting means receives the first and second data packets and wirelessly transmits the first data packets to the first receiving means and transmits the second data packets to the second receiving means. The transmitting means wirelessly transmits the second data packets to the second receiving means. The transmitting means wirelessly transmits the first data packets to the second receiving means. The display means is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors. The transmitting means wirelessly communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 n, 802.16, and ultrawideband (UWB) formats. The audio means includes a plurality of transmitting means for transmitting and further comprises a plurality of speakers each including receiving means for receiving that communicate with a respective one of the transmitting means.
- A method for operating a set top box comprises receiving digital broadband signals; tuning a channel including digital audio and video signals; demodulating the digital audio and video signals; and outputting first data packets containing digital audio signals and second data packets containing digital video signals.
- In other features, the method includes receiving the first and second data packets; wirelessly transmitting the first data packets to a first receiver; and transmitting the second data packets to a second receiver. The method includes wirelessly transmitting the second data packets to the second receiver. The method includes wirelessly transmitting the first data packets to the second receiver. The wirelessly communication uses at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 n, 802.16, and ultrawideband (UWB) formats.
- Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
- The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
- FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the prior art;
- FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a set top box according to the present invention;
- FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention including a wireless link between the set top box and the audio system;
- FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention including wireless links between the set top box and the audio system and the television or monitor;
- FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention with a television or monitor having an integrated set top box and including a wireless link between the television or monitor and the audio system;
- FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention with a television or monitor having an integrated set top box and including a wireless link between the television or monitor and speakers;
- FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention with a wireless transceiver that wirelessly receives content, a set top box that separates the content into audio and video portions and transmits the audio portion to the wireless transceiver, which provides a wireless link to an audio system,with speakers and the video portion to a display; and
- FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of an entertainment system according to the present invention including a set top box including a decoder that parses content into audio and video data packet streams and a wireless transmitter that transmits the audio data packets to a receiver associated with an audio system and the video data packets to the monitor.
- The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. For purposes of clarity, the same reference numbers will be used in the drawings to identify similar elements. As used herein, the term module and/or device refers to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
- Entertainment systems receive content from service providers that include video and audio content and their corresponding signals. The entertainment system according to the present invention employs a lower cost/bandwidth wireless link to distribute audio signals from a service provider to audio system components while using a higher cost/bandwidth wireless link or hardwired link to the television or monitor. In some implementations, the set top box does not convert the audio and/or video signals to analog form. In other words, the audio and video signals remain in digital form until received at the final output device such as the display, audio system and/or speakers.
- The higher cost/bandwidth wireless link from the set top box to the television or monitor include links that are compliant with I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11 b, 802.11 g, 802.11 n and/or other current or future wireless links. Audio signals typically require a bandwidth of 24 Kb/s per channel. Therefore, a five channel audio signal would require 120 Kb/s. The bandwidth of the wireless link to the home audio system will depend upon the number of channels to be supported. For example, the wireless link to the audio system may include a 900 MHz wireless link. Various exemplary configurations will be described further below and serve as illustrative but not limiting implementations.
- Referring now to FIG. 2, a set top box 40 according to the present invention is shown. The set top box 40 includes
source inputs 42A, 42B and 42C (collectively inputs 42) such as antenna, cable, satellite and/or other inputs. The inputs 42 communicate with a radio frequency (RF) front ends (FE) 44A, 44B and 44C (collectively front ends 44).Tuners 46A, 46B and 46C tune a channel in a broadband signal that is received based on user selection.Amplifiers 48A, 48B and 48C (collectively amplifiers 48) amplify a selected channel. Analog to digital converters (ADCs) 50A, 50B and 50C (collectively ADCs 50) convert the amplified analog channel signal to a digital signal. AnRF demodulator 52 performs demodulation. Exemplary demodulation techniques include orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), quadrature frequency shift keying (QFSK) and/or other suitable demodulation techniques. - A central processing unit (CPU) 54 communicates with the
RF demodulator 52 via aninterface 56. In some implementations, theinterface 56 is a peripheral component interface (PCI), PCI express and/or any other suitable interface. TheCPU 54 may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory. Ananalog phone line 58 can be connected via aninterface 60 and a voice coder/decoder 62 to theinterface 56. - A
video processor 64 performs video processing and may includenonvolatile memory 66 such as flash memory, a hard disk drive or other suitable nonvolatile memory and volatile memory such as SDRAM or other suitable volatile memory. Avideo decoder 72 receivesvideo input 74 and performs suitable decoding such as but not limited to MPEG decoding. Avideo encoder 74 encodes video signals for output to a digital to analog converter (DAC) 76, anamplifier 78 and an S-video output 80. The output of theDAC 76 can also be output as a channel 3-4video output 82. - The
interface 56 also communicates with a settop box display 84 and/or a display associated with the television or monitor. The set top box 40 may also include a universal serial bus (USB) 86. Akeypad 88 may be directly connected to the set top box 40 and/or a wireless interface may be provided. Aremote control interface 90 receives infrared signals from aremote control 91 to allow user selection of channels, volume and/or other set top box functions. An 802.11interface 92 is compliant with at least one of 802.11, 802.11 a, 802.11 b, 802.11g, 802.11n (which are all hereby incorporated by reference) and other current and future wireless standards. A digital video interface (DVI)/transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS)interface 93, a 1394 or Firewire interface and/or aBluetooth interface 95 may also be provided. A medium access control (MAC)device 96 may provide an interface to a modem such as a digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, wireless or other broadband service. TheMAC device 96 may be integrated with other components of the set top box 40. - An audio coder/
decoder codec 99 communicates with theinterface 56 and performs audio coding and decoding. Theaudio codec 99 communicates with aline input 100 and anamplifier 101 and aline output 102. Theinterface 56 and/or theaudio codec 99 also communicate with atransmitter 103 for sending audio signals wirelessly to other devices. The audio signals may also be sent wirelessly via the 802.11 and/or Bluetooth interfaces 92 and 95, respectively. Theaudio codec 99 may be used to convert the digital audio signals to analog form prior to transmission and/or the digital audio signals may be sent directly via theinterface 56 to thetransmitter 103. - Referring now to FIG. 3, an
entertainment system 108 according to the present invention includes a wireless link between a set top box and an audio system. More particularly, the settop box 110 includes adecoding module 112 that receives content and outputs avideo signal 114 to the TV or monitor 12. Thedecoding module 112 also outputs an audio signal to atransmitter module 118, which transmits the audio signal over awireless link 119 to areceiver module 120 associated with anaudio system 124. As can be appreciated, thereceiver module 120 may be integrated with or separate from theaudio system 124. In some implementations, the audio signal includes 1, 2, ..., or N channels. In some implementations, the audio signal supports surround sound and N = 5 or 7. For example, thewireless link 119 can be a 900MHz link. Thetransmitter 118 can be implemented by thetransmitter 103, the 802.11interface 92 and/or theBluetooth interface 95, which generates thewireless signal 119. - In use, the set
top box 110 receives a broadband signal containing content channels. A user selects a content channel using inputs to the settop box 110 and/orremote control 91. The selected content channel provides a data stream including audio and video content. Thedecoding module 112 decodes the audio and video content. The audio content or signal includes one or more audio channels that are output to thetransmitter module 118. Thetransmitter module 118 transmits the channels to thereceiver module 120. - The
receiver module 120 outputs the channels to theaudio system 124, which outputs the audio signals to thespeakers 30. The connection between theaudio system 28 and the speakers can be wired or wireless. If a wireless connection is used, the audio system includes one or more transmitters and the speakers include receivers and shown in Fig. 5. Thedecoding module 112 outputs the video signal to the TV or monitor 12. In addition, the audio signal may also be output to the TV or monitor 12. In some implementations, the link to the TV or monitor 12 is unidirectional or bidirectional whereas the link to the audio system and/or speakers is unidirectional. In some implementations, the audio and video signals are received in digital form and are separated and output to the television or monitor and the audio receiver in digital form without conversion to an analog format. - Referring now to FIG. 4, an
entertainment system 150 according to the present invention includes a highbandwidth wireless link 154 between a settop box 160 and the television or monitor 164. Theentertainment system 150 includes a lowbandwidth wireless link 154 between the settop box 160 and theaudio system 124. The TV or monitor 164 includes anetwork interface 168. Likewise the settop box 160 includes anetwork interface 170. Thenetwork interface 170 may be implemented by the 802.11interface 92. The video signals are transmitted via thewireless link 154 to the TV or monitor 164. For example, thewireless link 154 can be 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11 n compliant. The audio signals are transmitted via thewireless link 119 in a manner similar to that described above. Thetransmitter 118 can be implemented by thetransmitter 103 and/or theBluetooth interface 95. In some implementations, the audio and video signals are received in digital form and are separated and sent to the television or monitor and the audio receiver in digital form without conversion to analog format. - Referring now to FIG. 5, an
entertainment system 250 according to the present invention includes a television or monitor 260 having an integrated settop box 264. The settop box 264 generates an audio output to atransmitter module 266, which generates awireless link 270 containing channels of the audio signal. The settop box 264 may include a decoding module as described in FIG. 2. Theaudio system 124 includes one or more transmitters 267 and 268 that generate wireless audio signals and thespeakers 30 include and/or are connected toreceivers 269 and 270 that receives the wireless signals. In some implementations, the audio and video signals are received in digital form and are separated and sent to the television or monitor and the audio receiver in digital form without conversion to analog format. - Referring now to FIG. 6, an
entertainment system 300 according to the present invention includes a television or monitor 310 having an integrated settop box 314 and atransmitter module 316. Thetransmitter module 316 generates wireless links 330-1, 330-2, 330-3 and 330-4 (collectively 330) directly between the television or monitor 310 and receivers 310-1, 310-2, 310-3 and 310-4 (collectively 310) associated with speakers 312-1, 312-2, 312-3 and 312-4 (collectively 312). In some implementations, the audio and video signals are received in digital form, are separated and are sent to the television or monitor and the audio receiver in digital form without conversion to analog format. - Referring now to FIG. 7, an
entertainment system 400 according to the present invention is shown to include awireless transceiver 410 that wirelessly receives audio and video content that can be in analog or digital format. Thewireless transceiver 410 can receive the wireless signals from any wireless source. In some implementations, the wireless content that is received by thetransceiver 410 can be in any current or future MPEG format, although other formats may be used. Thewireless transceiver 410 outputs the received wireless content to a settop box 412, which separates the received content into audio and video signals, outputs the audio signals back to thetransceiver 410 and the video signals to the TV or monitor 12. Thetransceiver 410 retransmits the audio signals to theaudio system 124. - While the following discussion relates to one suitable approach for delivering the wireless audio and video content to the
wireless transceiver 410, skilled artisans will appreciate that other approaches may be used. In some implementations, aservice provider 414 may generate analog and/or digital broadband signals that are received by amodem 416. The broadband signals may be cable-based, satellite-based, DSL-based, wireless-based or any other suitable broadband source. Anetwork device 418 such as a computer with a network interface receives content from themodem 416. In some implementations, themodem 416 includes a tuner that tunes a selected channel, demodulates the signal and converts the signal from analog to digital format. If in digital format, themodem 416 may include a digital receiver that receives and decodes the digital content. Alternately, themodem 416 may not include the tuner/digital receiver and thenetwork device 418 may receive the broadband signal directly from theservice provider 416. In this approach, thenetwork device 418 includes a digital receiver and/or a tuner that outputs audio and video content to awireless transceiver 420 for wireless transmission to thewireless transceiver 410. - The set
top box 412 communicates with thetransceiver 410 and includes a decoder 425 that separates the content into the audio and video signals. In some implementations, the set top box 424 includes an infrared (IR)receiver 430 that receives wireless signals 432 containing user inputs such as channel identification from a wirelessremote control 434 and/or directly via buttons on the settop box 412. Based on the received user inputs, the settop box 412 provides the channel identification to thetransceiver 410, which outputs the selected channel thewireless transceiver 420. The channel selection is used by the digital receiver and/or tuner associated with thenetwork device 418 and/ormodem 416 to decode or tune the selected channel. - The audio portion 426 is output to the
transceiver 410, which transmits the audio signals to theaudio system 124 andspeakers 30. In some embodiments, the decoder 425 outputs the video portion alone and/or audio and video to the TV or monitor 12. - The audio portion output by the decoder 425 may include digital packets containing audio and/or an analog signal. When audio packets are used, a
receiver 430 associated with theaudio system 124 receives the audio packets and generates analog signals based thereon. In some implementations, thereceiver 440 includes a converter for converting the digital packets to analog signals. Alternately, when analog signals are used such as FM signals, thereceiver 440 may include a FM tuner that demodulates the FM signal containing the audio content. - In some implementations,
transceiver 410 employs wireless fidelity (WiFi) such as 802.11, 802.11 a, 802.11 b, 802.11 g, 802.11 n (which are all hereby incorporated by reference) and other current or future 802.11 wireless standards, frequency modulation, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, Inc. (group promoting IEEE 802.16 wireless broadband standard) (WiMax) and/or ultrawideband (UWB) wireless formats for communication with thetransceiver 420 and/or thereceiver 430. - Referring now to FIG. 8, an entertainment system 450 according to the present invention is shown to include a set
top box 452 that receives content such as digital broadband signals including audio and video content. The settop box 452 includes adecoder 454 that parses or separates the content into audio and video packet streams. The parsed data packet streams are output to awireless transmitter 456 that transmits the audio packets to areceiver 460 associated with theaudio system 124 and the video packets areceiver 462 associated with themonitor 12. The audio packets may also be transmitted to themonitor 12 as well. The transmitter and receivers in this embodiment may operate using any of the protocols described above. - Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the present invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. For example, while some implementations include 4 or 5 audio speakers and channels, any number of audio speakers and channels may be used. In addition, the number of speakers and channels need not be the same. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification and the following claims.
Claims (15)
- A set top box, comprising:a signal receiver that includes a front end that receives digital broadband signals and a tuner that tunes a channel including digital audio and video signals;a signal demodulator that communicates with said signal receiver and that demodulates said digital audio and video signals;a video processor that communicates with said signal demodulator and that encodes and outputs digital video output signals on a first medium; anda transmitter that communicates with said signal demodulator and that transmits said digital audio output signals via a second wireless medium,wherein said first medium has a greater bandwidth capacity and a different protocol than said second wireless medium, and wherein said first medium is a wireless medium.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising:a display that communicates with said first medium; andan audio system that includes a receiver that communicates with said second wireless medium.
- The system of Claim 2 wherein said display is selected from a group consisting of televisions and monitors.
- The set top box of Claim 1 further comprising a first wireless network interface that communicates with said video output processor, wherein said first medium is a wireless medium.
- The set top box of Claim 4 wherein said first wireless network interface communicates using at least one of I.E.E.E. 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 n, 802.16, and ultrawideband (UWB) formats.
- The system of Claim 2 wherein said set top box is integrated with said display.
- The system of Claim 2 wherein said set top box is located remotely from said display.
- The system of Claim 2 wherein said display further comprises a first transmitter module that communicates with said first medium.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising an audio system that includes a receiver module that communicates with said audio system and that receives said digital audio output signals via said second wireless medium.
- The system of Claim 9 wherein said audio system includes a plurality of transmitter modules and further comprising a plurality of speakers each including a receiver module that communicates with a respective one of said transmitter modules.
- The set top box of Claim 1 wherein a bandwidth capacity of said first medium is greater than 50 Mb/s and a bandwidth capacity of said second wireless medium is less than 1 Mb/s.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising:a display that communicates with said first medium, wherein said first medium is a wired medium; andan audio system that includes a receiver that wirelessly communicates with said transmitter of said set top box and a speaker that is connected by a connection that is selected from a group consisting of wireless and wired to said receiver.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising:a display that communicates with said first medium, wherein said first medium is a wireless medium, said set top box includes a first wireless network interface and said display includes a second wireless network interface that communicates with said first wireless network interface; andan audio system that includes a receiver that wirelessly communicates with said transmitter of said set top box and a speaker that is connected by a connection that is selected from a group consisting of wireless and wired to said receiver.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising:a display, wherein said set top box is integrated with said display; andan audio system that includes a receiver that wirelessly communicates with said transmitter of said set top box and a speaker that is connected by a connection that is selected from a group consisting of wireless and wired to said receiver.
- A system comprising the set top box of Claim 1 and further comprising:a display, wherein said set top box is integrated with said display; anda speaker that includes a receiver that wirelessly communicates with said transmitter of said set top box.
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US11/135,557 US7610013B2 (en) | 2005-04-18 | 2005-05-23 | Wireless audio for entertainment systems |
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JP2006340339A (en) | 2006-12-14 |
EP1717995B1 (en) | 2015-05-06 |
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US7610013B2 (en) | 2009-10-27 |
JP5089062B2 (en) | 2012-12-05 |
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JP2012249296A (en) | 2012-12-13 |
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